‘No, they’re from the guy upstairs. He said he didn’t want them.’ Something about the way Sadie says this makes me perk up my ears. There’s a guardedness to her tone.
‘A friend?’ I ask casually.
She shrugs and averts her eyes, but not before I catch a flash of pain. Oh, he’s hurt her somehow. The thought of it instantly brings out my protective side, though I don’t know why. She’s nothing to me.
‘Did something happen with him? Is he your boyfriend?’
Sadie flops into the small armchair by the window and looks glum. ‘Not anymore. Iwasseeing him,’ she admits. ‘But it got ... messy. We had a fight.’ She chews her bottom lip distractedly.
‘Not because of me?’ I ask. If this guy knows I exist, then maybe I have a chance of being rescued.
She shakes her head. ‘No, it was about something else.’
Oh, damn. No luck there then.
‘Maybe you’ll patch things up,’ I say hopefully.
‘I don’t think so. It’s definitely over. But look in the left coat pocket.’
Hesitantly, I put my hand into the pocket, expecting a mousetrap to go off or something. It’s the kind of sick joke she’d play. But my fingers touch plastic, something spongy, and cool metal. Slowly, I draw out the object and discover it’s a red Walkman with orange earphones.
‘I thought you might like to listen to some music. There should be a tape in there, but I don’t know what it is.’
I flip open the cassette holder and chuckle when I see what the tape is.
Sadie cocks an eyebrow. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘It’sRio, by Duran Duran.’
She giggles. ‘No way! I didn’t know Tim liked them. The sly devil. He was always going on about Roxy Music and Simple Minds and said that Duran Duran was poncy.’
I frown at that. ‘Poncy! They’re not poncy.’
‘Yeah, I don’t feel too bad stealing his Walkman now!’
‘What?You stole his Walkman?’
She shrugs. ‘It seemed like recompense for what he said to me.’ Again, the pained look.
I don’t press her for details on that. It was obviously something mean. This Tim guy sounds like a right knob.
‘Well, if that’s his attitude, you’re better off without him.’ I press play on the Walkman, put on the earphones and the catchy intro to‘Hungry Like the Wolf’starts playing softly. ‘Oh, I love this song,’ I say and can’t help smiling. I tap my foot, itching for her to go now so I can lose myself in the music.
‘Me too,’ agrees Sadie with a nod. ‘“Hungry Like the Wolf”is the best song on the album.’ Wow, she must have good hearing to detect it from all the way over there!
‘I’ll leave you to listen in peace.’ She pushes up off the chair and strolls to the door. When she reaches it, she throws me a glance. ‘Oh, I forgot to say. You’re getting coq au vin for dinner.’
My stomach rumbles hearing that. If I have to eat another peanut butter sandwich, I’m going to vomit all over the bedclothes in protest. New clothes, Duran Duran,andcoq au vin. This is turning out to be a great day!
Chapter 16
Sadie | London, 1758
I howl and jerk my hand away from the flames as the tips of my fingers sear. Before I know what’s happening, Darius has whipped me over to the bed and is gently laying me down. ‘Ow, it hurts!’ I moan, thrashing my naked limbs about.
‘Lie still,’ Darius grunts, inspecting the damage. He prods at my blistered pink fingers, and I gasp in pain, gathering my hand to my chest.
‘You silly girl, Sadie. Why did you go and do that?’
